A stepped-wedge study in the International Journal for Quality in Health Care assessed changes in the quality of care while a facility underwent accreditation in Denmark.
Here's what you should know.
1. Søren Bie Bogh, of the Institute of Regional Health Research, and his colleagues led a "multi-level, longitudinal, stepped-wedge, nationwide" study of several performance metrics to measure the impact the accreditation process has on a facility.
2. It found that the quality of healthcare improved during the accreditation process, and was an improvement in the hospitals' care from before the accreditation process. However, the data also found that after accreditation was achieved, although care was still at a higher level from pre-accreditation, it wasn't as high as it was when undergoing accreditation.
3. The Danish Healthcare Quality Programme was created in 2009 to provide a framework hospitals could implement to increase the quality of care.
4. The study looked at 269 weeks prior to, during and post accreditation.
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